U-20 Women World Cup: Falconets Urged To Beat Italy

Female football coach, Rowlandson Odeh, has charged the Falconets of Nigeria to beat Italy in their last Group B match at the ongoing FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Kobe, Japan on Sunday.

He said the Nigerian ladies must ensure that they defeat the Italians, to avoid playing the hosts, Japan in the knockout stage of the tournament.

The Falconets are currently topping Group B with four points going into Sunday’s match, and if they must avoid Japan, they have to beat Italy for them to maintain the leadership of the group.

Odeh wants the ladies to defeat Italy to play their next quarterfinal match in Kobe, where they have been enjoying the support of the fans since the tournament kicked off last weekend.

According to him, “I know that the Falconets are fired up for their next game against Italy. They should beat the Italians to avoid Japan and stay back in Kobe to enjoy support in the city.”

The Falconets kicked off their campaign on a high with a convincing 2-0 victory over South Korea. They were few minutes from claiming three points in their second group match against Brazil before allowing the Brazilians to equalise few minutes to regulation time.

Meanwhile, Coach Edwin Okon is so sure that they will run rings round the Italians after the cheeky equalizer they conceded against the Brazilian girls.

“We lost concentration against Brazil but I am going to work on these things before our match with Italy. We cannot afford to make a mess of this match. It is important that we are on top of our game and I am confident that the girls will do their job and beat the Italians, but I know that it is going to be a tricky one for both teams”, Okon said.

—Adebobola Alawode